China: Day 11

Last I wrote, we were worried about our travel home being delayed by a day (hopefully not more...hopefully not at all!). As I mentioned, it has to do with a delay in getting the hard copy of Bella's passport (which was in Hohhot at the police station while we are in Guangzhou), which is needed to get her visa. To obtain her visa, we had to attend our scheduled consulate appointment at the U.S. Embassy, which was set for this morning (Monday, August 7th at 8:30 am). Although we still don't have the passport in hand (supposedly, it is arriving via plane as we speak), we decided to go ahead and attend our consulate appointment, in the small likelihood they would be willing to apply for Bella's visa without her passport. 

Luckily, the officer there was the nicest man on the planet. An absolute God send. He understood that the passport situation is completely out of our hands and also that we have three kiddos back home we are just dying to get back to, with their little sister in tow. So, he allowed us to go ahead and complete the family interview, take the required oath, and turn in all the paperwork we have acquired, all of which is needed to obtain Bella's visa. He confirmed that they cannot send off the paperwork for the visa until they receive her passport BUT promised that as soon as we are able to drop off the passport to the Embassy, they will immediately send the visa application. AND he couldn't guarantee it but is doing everything he possibly can to expedite the process for us. You see, it usually takes 48 hours before the visa is ready for pick-up, but he is requesting that ours be ready in 24 hours. All that to say, IF all these pieces fall into place, we will (hopefully!!!) still be able to make our Wednesday evening departure. If not, we will just have to travel the following day. We won't know until the very last minute (Wednesday, around lunchtime) if we have the visa; which means we won't know when we are getting home until then. So, we continue to pray that all these details work out!! <3

That being said, we spent the morning at the Embassy with our little lady. We just learned we will have to return in the morning to complete the process; so, expect to see a similarly posed photo in tomorrow's post. :)
 

Standing outside the Embassy, crossing our fingers and toes they'll let us proceed with our consulate appointment (they did!)

We were there with one of the families from our agency, and I was also so excited that we bumped into another adoptive family I met several months back on the China Adoption Facebook page that has been my lifeline throughout this process. It was just so nice to meet the Wallace family in person, and while no cameras are allowed inside the Embassy, we ran into them again afterwards and just had to snap a quick pic with our girls (small world - both of us mommas used to work at the same children's hospital in Atlanta. So crazy!). 

Sweet buddies <3

Next, it was back to the hotel for lunch (two yummy Chinese dishes [yes, we are back to enjoying Chinese food again :) ] ), and a little playtime before Bella went down for her nap.

Car trips in Momma's lap :)

Happy, sleepy, silly baby

Crawling toward the camera ;)

This girl is T.R.O.U.B.L.E., and I love it!!

After Bels woke up, I took her out to the hotel gardens while Daddy snuck in a quick workout. This girl is probably very quickly learning that her momma is obsessed with taking photos of her kids. Sorry, Bella - comes with the territory. Get use to it, little lady! ;) We also ventured up to the 30th floor of our hotel, to the "Carousel" restaurant so we could see 360-degree views of the city. So pretty!

Take 1. 

Take 2. 

Take 3.

Seriously, Momma?! MORE pictures?!

Guangzhou from 30 stories up. 

So pretty!

Finally, we went to dinner at this really delicious Thai restaraunt just across the road from our hotel called Banana Leaf. It was SO good!!! One of our tastiest meals yet! 

Cheers!

Sitting with Momma while Daddy eats.

Sitting with Daddy while Momma eats.

And now, we lay down for what will (hopefully!) be our second-to-last night in China. This also happens to be the one week anniversary of our Gotcha Day. It is CRAZY to think that it has already been a week since we met our beautiful daughter. And it is AMAZING to see how far she's come. More on that in a few days. For now, we're off to bed to catch some zzz's. Good night from China!